


The Etherian Party Bus: D Day

by LesbianbooRadley



Series: The Etherian Party Bus [5]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Cussing, F/F, Lesbians in Space, Not Beta Read, Panic Attacks, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27298048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesbianbooRadley/pseuds/LesbianbooRadley
Summary: The event three months in that causes Adora to give up their magical quest.Or they all almost die in a fiery blaze and Adora has an off the charts three year delayed panic attack afterwards.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: The Etherian Party Bus [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981591
Comments: 15
Kudos: 126





	The Etherian Party Bus: D Day

**Author's Note:**

> So I've never really had to write an action sequence before. I hope this flows right. Please comment. I live for them.

**Three Months**

Catra and Adora were on third shift at the three month mark where they all nearly died. They were skirting around a small planet that had signs of magic, trying to see if it was safe enough for Adora to interact with and fix with zero injury to her person. 

Hordak and Entrapta were asleep, and Double Trouble was in the galley. It was one of the rare times when Meelog was not cloaking them. She needed to rest just like the rest of them and they'd left her in their cabin curled up in the bed.

During times like this, Adora was always at the ready to defend them as She-ra. She was also always tense during these times. And by that time it was at its height. After three months they actively had ships looking for them and Adora knew eventually their luck was going to run out. 

And it almost did

* * *

"Yeah I'm thinking no," Catra said, her head tilting to the side as she looked up at the scans in front of them. Her tail was swaying with agitation, hitting Adora's shin where she was sitting behind her. "There's First Ones tech, and Prime tech Adora. And a lot of it."

Catra was absolutely right to say no. They'd figured out through trial and a laundry list of errors that any planet that had one or both of those tech signatures was dangerous. It seemed like every magical planet they'd tracked down had been turned into a freaking bomb by one of them. And in addition to just those dangers there was also dark magic to worry about. Last month Adora had very nearly released a planet's magic only to realize at the last moment it was saturated with evil. So that was a thing too now.

And if that wasn't enough they ran out of fuel and food every time Adora turned around. 

Adora frowned and got up from her chair, her eyes trailing over all of the readings in front of them. She crossed her arms over her chest and began chewing on her bottom lip. She felt guilty that she didn't want to even try and release the magic on this planet. "Hey stop it," Catra murmured, appearing at her side and cupping her cheek. She pulled her lip down with her thumb and ran the pad of it over the near constant sore Adora had there. "You're gonna make it bleed again idiot."

The intimacy of the moment was not lost on Adora. It had been three long months of fighting and misunderstanding each other's motives at every turn. But now it felt like they were on the precipice of something big in their relationship, certainly bigger than whatever was down on the planet below them. 

Adora leant into the hand at her cheek and took a deep breath. "You're right," she said, glancing from the screen and then back to her girlfriend. 

Catra looked pleasantly surprised at the statement. Adora didn't like that. She wanted Catra to just know Adora was going to choose her from now on. She wanted it to be a given. Carefully Adora pulled the magicat into her arms. She went willingly but she was still stiff. Adora ran a hand up and down her back in what she hoped was a calming way. She still wasn't all that great at this emotional vulnerability thing either. 

"You're right. It's too dangerous, we don't have any kind of reliable intel on what they did down there and the planet is deserted anyways. We'll just gather all the readings we can, record them in the log, and then move on to the next planet on the list," Adora said, keeping up the gentle rubbing to Catra's back. 

Catra sighed and relaxed slightly in her arms, her forehead resting on Adora's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Adora said stepping back enough that she could meet Catra's eyes. She meant it. She got it now that she didn't have to save the day to earn Catra's love. The magicat really did just love Adora for Adora and apparently had just as long as Adora had loved her. "I meant what I said Catra. We're a team now for real and I'm not going to go just chasing danger anymore for the sake of it. I want to stay with you."

Catra's eyes flitted away down to her feet. Adora knew that this was overwhelming Catra. Mature open conversations about their feelings were something they were still trying to get the hang of. 

Catra looked up at and nodded. "Okay. Good," she said and then closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. When they opened again her bichromatic eyes were softer now and she released the tension in her back, allowing Adora to pull her back into a hug. 

It was a very out of place tender moment. This kind of physical closeness and vulnerability from Catra was something Adora had only just now begun to see on a regular basis, and only in the privacy of their cramped room. It made Adora's heart race that this was happening on the bridge. I mean they were alone, sure, but still. If talking about her feelings and avoiding dangerous situations was the price she had to pay to have Catra calm in her arms like this then Adora was more than willing to pay up. 

The feeling in her chest was addicting, more so Adora found, then the feeling "saving the day" had ever been. It was more...fulfilling? It definitely made all the loud voices in her head shut up at least. 

Adora sighed and glanced up at the screen over Catra's shoulder. To one side there was a list of planets in the area that were either rumored to have magic or straight up known to have it. With the one below them crossed off now, there were still another two dozen for them to visit. Two dozen planets that's magic could be returned by something as simple as Adora sticking her sword in the ground, or something even more dangerous than the Heart of Etheria had been. 

A very un-Adora like thought crossed her mind. What if they just didn't? What if they just got out of this messy area of space? Let someone else worry about the magic? Immediately she felt guilty. What if there were people who needed help on those planets? 

She didn't realize she had been tightening her arms around Catra until the magicat started sniffling next to her ear. It pulled her out of her exceedingly panicked thoughts. "Oh sorry," she murmured, her grip loosening slightly. 

Catra shook her head quickly and tightened her own arms around Adora. "No don't please. It's good," Catra mumbled against her neck. She sounded a little mortified honestly. 

Immediately Adora tightened her arms back up. "If it's good then why are you crying?" Adora asked, her voice low in Catra's ear. 

"I'm not crying," Catra scoffed, burying her face deeper into the crook of Adora's neck and shoulder. She sniffled again.

Adora wasn't sure what to say or do so just held Catra against her tightly. One of her hands raised nervously, Adora felt desperate to calm Catra down. She threaded her fingers through the magicat's shaggy hair and began lightly scratching her behind an ear. Catra tensed for a moment and then began lightly purring. "I'm just really glad you're listening to me," Catra mumbled against her neck. 

Adora considered that for a moment. "Well you're very smart," she chuckled. 

Catra let out a watery laugh and then pulled away from her, immediately turning away to wipe her eyes before looking back. Adora was close enough to see the flush of her face under her fur. "And don't you forget it," she teased, poking a claw into Adora's chest. 

Adora held up her hands and laughed. "I yield," she said, her smile turning goofy. 

Catra squeaked out a laugh. "Keep that energy. Imagine how easy shit could be if you always listened to me."

Adora wanted to keep up the playful teasing but there was too much truth to Catra's statement. If recent events were anything to go by than Adora was definitely better off trusting Catra than not. She thought of what all they'd done the night before alone in bed together and her cheeks flushed. Catra was grinning smugly now, clearly following Adora's train of thought. She slinked forwards into Adora's arms and drew them around her. "Yeah you should definitely always listen to me there too," she whispered in Adora's ear. 

Adora pressed her fingers roughly into Catra's waist. Her girlfriend shivered and her head fell against Adora's shoulder. For a moment Adora started to lighten her touch, her insecurity about being too physically demanding still not quite broken yet. But Catra was purring harder now and it calmed the blonde. Catra had promised to tell her if she was ever too much and Adora had to trust she would. 

Adora was about to suggest they finish the scans and then go back to the privacy of their room when all hell broke loose. 

A massive hit to Darla rocked the ship and the couple tumbled to the ground. Alarms started blaring loudly and the lights flashed red around them. 

Adora and Catra sat there wide eyed, staring at each other in terror until another hit, from a different direction rocked the ship. 

"Fuck!" Catra yelled, scrambling off of the floor and running to the control panels. 

A barrage of hits were now pitching the ship back and forth and Adora could barely make it over to the space beside her girlfriend. Catra's hands were flying over the panel in front of them. 

Suddenly Entrapta's voice rang through the scratchy com system. "What is going on?" She yelled. 

"We're being attacked," Catra yelled back. "They were cloaked somehow! These janky scanners suck! They didn't even register them!" She slammed a button and Adora's face twisted in horror as the screen in front of them showed eight large bandit vessels blinking into view and closing in on them, firing a multitude of weapons at them at full spread. 

"External shields at 80%," Darla announced in the impending chaos. 

The door to the bridge slid open and a panicked Meelog and Double Trouble ran into the room. Double Trouble had a gash on the their chin. "Meelog shield us," Catra called out over her shoulder.

Immediately there was the familiar feel of going invisible, but it was a moment too late. The ship was rocked violently with a hit and then several more. Darla jerked and then began slowing down. "Get us out of here!" Adora yelled at Catra.

"External shields at 70%."

"I'm fucking trying to!" Catra screamed back, she was pulling hard on the throttle now. It wasn't reacting to her. "Entrapta bridge controls are down! Do yours work?"

"It's not the controls!" Entrapta yelled, her voice frantic. "We appear to be stuck in three high power tractor beams. They must have locked onto us before Meelog cloaked us! At this rate of fire we have ten minutes before our shields are worn down."

"Which means we're sitting ducks now," Adora yelled, her fist slamming against the panel below her hand. 

"Oh gods we're all going to die," Double Trouble sobbed dramatically into their hands. 

"We're not going to fucking die!" Catra snapped angrily, her hands still trying to pull the ship away from the tractor beams. 

Suddenly the rocking stopped. "We are being hailed!" Entrapta shouted.

"Open the channel Entrapta," Adora called back. 

In front of her the view of the attacking ships disappeared and Adora had to fight the urge to visibly flinch when a familiar gloating smile filled the screen. It was the same bandit leader who had attempted to hijack Darla just a month prior. His name was Tribuke and mostly by luck he'd very nearly succeeded in capturing them. If it hasn't been for Double Trouble he would have. Adora glared up at the screen. 

"Well if it isn't the little mystery gang, told you I'd find you again" Tribuke said, his head thrown back in abrasive laughter. He had a face that resembled an armored wild boar and the laughter coming from him made him look like one all the more.

"Disengage your tractor beams now and leave us alone!" Adora demanded, her fists clenched at her side. Catra moved to stand next to her, wearing a similar glare, but Adora could feel her tail shaking as it wrapped around her thigh. 

Again Tribuke laughed and Adora seethed. "Adora was it? I don't think you're in the position to be making demands right now. There are more than a few people willing to pay a hefty price for you Blondie. Enough for me to put together this little party. Your reputation precedes you. Be a smart girl and come out here for me," he said, snorting as he talked. The massive tusks rising from his mouth clicked when he smacked his lips. 

"In your fucking dreams," Catra growled, her eyes murderous and claws extending at her sides. 

The bandit laughed again and then looked at Adora. "Come out and surrender yourself or we will wear your shields down to nothing and destroy your ship. We know you'll survive the blast with those little magic tricks you've got, but I wouldn't place any bets on your crew."

"Go to hell," Catra snarled, her tail tightening impossibly hard around Adora now. 

"My you've got a mouth on you kitten. I hope you survive the blast. I've always wanted a pet to keep me lap warm," he said lecherously, his eyes freely roaming up and down Catra's frame

Adora lunged forwards and closed the channel with a slam of her fist. The bridge was silent for a second and then the ship was rocking and rolling around them again.

"External shields at 60%."

Adora looked back to the screen and punched the panel again. "They're hunting me. I've made a big enough ass out of myself in three months to put a fucking target on all of us," she stammered out through clenched teeth. 

Adora was absolutely spiraling as the implications of what this meant hit her. These beings were tracking them. Tracking her specifically. Because they wanted to use her. They didn't understand exactly who she was. But they knew she was powerful. A powerful tool. They had known Adora would be here which meant they knew what Adora was doing on that specific uninhabited planet. Even if they got away today they'd just catch up to them at the next planet Adora walked onto pants down and hands up. They weren't going to stop until Adora surrendered. And now they had friends willing to help them and Darla was an old ship with a crew of five misfits. Give yourself up to them! A voice that sounded a lot like Shadow Weaver was screaming in her head. Give yourself up and they'll leave the others alone. Adora flinched away from the panels. 

Catra snarled next to Adora and punched the panels herself this time. Her hands slapped to either side of Adora's face and forced her to make eye contact. "Adora I need you to stop freaking out now. We need to break out of their tractor beams and run," Catra ground out forcefully. 

Adora was shaking, large tears welling up in her eyes. "But I...they want me."

"Guys they have us at a stand still and they're taking us up into the stratosphere!" Entrapta yelled over the com system. 

Catra's eyes slammed shut. She was obviously fighting the urge to scream at Adora. She shook her head and then opened her eyes, leveling Adora with a steely determined gaze. "Well too fucking bad for them cause so do I. Remember Adora? We're together now."

Adora choked back a sob as the ship pitched and rocked around them. The non essential lights were starting to flicker.

"External shields at 55%."

"We need to do something fast. The energy grid is overloading," Hordak announced over the com. 

Adora felt like she was about to drown. Her senses were overloading from the chaos surrounding her. She was gasping for air. And then Catra leaned forwards and put their foreheads together. Adora's breath caught in her throat and she clung to her girlfriend. "Nothing really bad can happen as long as we're together Adora. Remember? You promised," she said, her eyes were wide and fearful but there was no doubt in her voice. None at all. 

Adora felt Catra's steely determination settle into her heart and it bolstered her up. She trusted Catra. Catra was smart. Adora could freak out about this being all her fault later. They were going to get out of this. "Okay," she said, her voice still shaky but just as determined as her girlfriend's. She turned back to the viewscreen. "Entrapta which ships are tractoring us?" Adora yelled out as Catra moved back to grab the throttle. 

"It's the two largest vessels and the junker," Entrapta supplied quickly. 

Adora bit her lip and her fists curled at her side as she studied the ships in question. All eight ships were hovering spread around them in a circle but they'd been stupid and put all three of those ships next to each other. "I'm going to go out and take down those three ship's tractor arrays. Cover me with the laser array. We should be able to draw some of the heat off of Darla. As soon as you're loose floor it," she said to Catra, her face stoic as she slipped into soldier Adora mode. 

"Adora that's a horrible plan," Catra protested. 

"External shields at 50%. Diverting energy from non-essential systems."

"I know but it's the only option we have," her eyes darted back to the screen. "I need you to trust me. I know I can do this and not get hurt. It's not the first time I've taken down a bunch of ships by hand."

"And after I floor it how are you going to get back on Darla?" The magicat ground out. 

"You'll save me," Adora said as a small explosion rocked Darla. 

"Our power grid is dangerously close to overloading," Entrapta sounded. 

"Might I suggest we make haste with Adora's plan?" Hordak yelled as well. 

Catra looked up at Adora terrified. Adora lurched forwards and pulled her into a tight hug. "You'll save me. When I've got the last array down I'll jump and you'll catch me."

"External shields at 45%."

"I am detecting a massive freighter entering the planet's atmosphere from the other side of the planet!" Entrapta warned frantically.

"That ship has the capability to transport our entire ship into their cargo bay if they get within range of us," Hordak yelled. 

Catra choked back her own sob now and then stiffened in Adora's arms. She stood back and took a deep breath. "Hordak, meet DT and Adora in the hanger," the magicat snapped, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"I'm on my way," Hordak said at once. 

"Me?! What am I supposed to do?" Double Trouble called out, nearly hysterically. 

"You're going to help Hordak catch her!" She snapped. 

"But I-"

"No buts DT. You're the one who willingly snuck aboard this fucking pleasure cruise. Now welcome to the crew," Catra yelled furiously. She turned back to Adora. "Be careful," she demanded. 

"I will," Adora said immediately, her fingers pressing as tightly into Catra's hips as Adora possibly could. As hard as she'd always wanted to. 

"External shields at 35%."

Adora kissed Catra hard on the lips before pulling away and running to the door, dragging Double Trouble out with her. 

* * *

Left alone on the bridge Catra went back to the panels and fired up the limited weapons array on Darla. Entrapta and Hordak had taken it off of a broken down ship they'd come across by chance two weeks ago, and they'd yet to use it since their ammo was so limited. 

Catra felt like she was absolutely about to fucking pass out. She was sure that they were all about to either die in an explosion, or worse, she was gonna watch Adora walk off of Darla and surrender immediately. With the way the latter three months had gone, she wouldn't be surprised by either. 

But that wasn't right. She wanted to believe what Adora had said. They were different now. Or at least getting there. 

On the view screen she caught a glimpse of familiar white and gold and lurched forwards to watch She-ra start jumping from ship to ship, trying to make her way over and up to the three ship's tractoring them. 

Catra wrapped her claws around their weapons array joystick and began spray firing laser beams at the ships she'd already scaled, hoping to distract them away from her girlfriend. 

Adora looked determined as she flawlessly jumped from ship to ship, not stopping to do any damage, just using them to get to her targets. "That's my girl," Catra yelled as she emptied round after round into the other ships. 

"External shields at 25%. Beach imminent."

"Tell me something I don't already fucking know Darla!" Catra screamed out. 

There was a moment of silence and then, "environmental support system failure in three minutes."

"Arggg! For fuck's sake," she bellowed. Adora had made it to the first ship and was fighting off a small cloud of bots as she made her way to it's tractor array. Catra quickly swung their weapons array around and started cutting through them. Their weak lasers weren't making a dent in the more advanced ships shields, but the small bots were dropping like flies. 

The ship lurched forwards a foot suddenly, sending Catra slamming against the control panel. She hissed loudly. Her right hip was screaming in pain now. "Adora has successfully destroyed the first ship's array!" Entrapta called out. 

Panting and gritting her teeth, Catra watched her girlfriend dodge bots and shots as she catapulted herself up to the next ship. "Entrapta as soon as we're free we're going to dive back down towards the planet so we can catch Adora when she jumps from the third ship. How long do we have to catch her?" Catra called out. She only had a meager twenty to thirty blasts left. 

"At this altitude we should have ten to fifteen minutes before Adora hits the ground," Entrapta supplied. 

"Hordak did you hear that?" Catra asked as she watched Adora slice through the second ships array. 

"External shields at 13%."

"Yes," he snarled back through the com. 

"Come on Adora you're almost there," Catra gritted out as she focused the last of their firepower on the new wave of bots bearing down on her girlfriend. 

The trigger started clicking under her finger, it's ammo spent and Catra bellowed angrily, slamming her first down against the panels. Adora was being swarmed, her sword cutting through a cloud of bots only for them to be replaced by more. 

"External shields at 5%."

Catra wrapped her claws around the throttle as she watched Adora helplessly. The blonde had managed to make it to the last array, her sword was poised above her head to strike. 

"External shields going offline." 

Catra's eyes widened and a tortured drawn out "fuck" was ripped out of her throat has several explosions rocked the now unprotected ship. Adora sliced through the array and for a moment Catra felt hope spring to her chest. She slammed the throttle downwards and Darla tipped forwards in the air, nose down. And then one last massive explosion rocked the ship and she realized in horror the ship's constant humming had shut off. 

There was just a singular moment of peace and then Darla was free falling, nose down, through the planet's atmosphere. Catra was slammed backwards by the Gs, her body flipping and somersaulting through the bridge until she slammed against the captain's chair with so much force she felt several ribs on the right side of her body crack. She bounced off of it and landed with a thud against the back wall of the bridge. Meelog landed next to her with another thud and then the ship was uncloaked again. "Fuck," she cried out, the pain in her side was blinding. "Entrapta?!" Catra screamed. 

She could hear Entrapta grunting painfully over the com, clearly struggling to pull herself back to her station in the engine room. "We've lost almost all power, the emergency generator isn't fully charging us!" She screamed in panic. 

"How do we get it back?" Catra screamed back. From her place plastered against the wall she could see the planet below racing up to meet them. 

"I'm going to divert our major systems to the back up energy grid. Catra you have to get back to the main panels and be ready to pull the throttle as soon as it's back up. My controls won't come on line immediately," Entrapta directed. 

"Right," Catra hissed out. "Piece of cake," she said looking upwards at the nearly vertical climb she'd have to make. Her eyes zeroed in on the monitors. Most of them were dead or static but a couple were still flickering. Her eyes widened in horror at the one showing Adora plummeting to the ground not far above the ship. The blondes sword was pointed downwards and magic was shooting out of it. She was obviously trying to slow her descent and line up with Darla. 

"Hordak can you get the hanger doors open? Adora's almost right above us!" Catra yelled as she dug her claws into the floor of the bridge and started scaling it. Every inch she moved made her ribs scream and she could taste blood in her mouth. 

"We're trying to!" Double Trouble screamed back over the com. She could hear Hordak in the background cursing up a storm. 

"Roboot is at 75%. There are two small ships closing in on us as well," Entrapta yelled. 

Catra was gasping in agony as she clawed her way up the main panel and dug into the metal with her right claw to keep attached to it. Her eyes flitted to Adora's falling form. She was less than twenty feet from the back of the ship. 

"System reboot complete in 5...4...3...2...now!" Entrapta yelled. 

Catra bit her tongue so hard blood welled up in her mouth. Her eyes stayed glued to the monitors. "Up! Up! Now you fools!" Hordak screamed over the com. Her eyes slammed shut and she yanked the thruster back with every ounce of strength she had left in her body. 

* * *

Adora was exhausted by the time she sliced through the last array. Even as She-ra this had been a ridiculously hard task. She couldn't see Darla, but she could guess where she was stuck based on the direction all the ships were firing. 

She was gearing up to take a running leap towards her when a massive explosion made her stumble backwards. She watched in horror as a ball of fire erupted from where the ship was. "No!" Adora screamed as she barreled off the end of the ship and started free falling down. 

Ice crystals started to form on her uniform immediately and the sound of wind rushing past her ears were deafening. Her eyes shot upwards and she watched as the ships above her started to scatter, firing wildly in all directions. 

Her eyes darted through the sky, trying to find Darla. She flailed helplessly when she spotted a trail of smoke not far from her, coming out of seemingly nowhere. 

She craned her head down just in time to see Darla flicker into view, plummeting towards the ground along with her. 

"Catra," Adora screamed, her muscles straining as she pointed her sword downwards and focused all of her powers on the words slow down.

Magic erupted from the tip of her sword below her and her body jerked upwards a few yards. "Fuck!" She shouted, scrambling to keep hold of the weapon. She looked down again, trying to spot Darla and nearly threw up when she saw the ground racing towards her. 

She needed to move right to line up with the ship. If they were all going to fucking die in a fiery crash they would do it together. Her shoulders felt like they were being dislocated as she forced her sword to her left. Grunting from exertion she managed to drift towards the ship.

Below her she saw Darla start to flicker in and out of cloaked. The ship was starting to slow down miraculously. Just before it disappeared completely she saw the hanger doors burst open and Hordak coming flying out of them, a tether disappearing into thin air behind him. 

He hit her with a force so hard her teeth rattled and she could hear him cursing loudly against her back as he struggled to get a hold of her massive frame. The ground was so close now she could make out its details. Adora took a deep breath and willed her body to transform out of She-ra. Immediately Hordak arms clamped down around her and he was shouting in her ear. "Up! Up! Now you fools!"

Adora and Hordak's body snapped on the end of the tether so hard Adora thought her neck was broken. Hordak groaned in agony and his sharp nails dug into Adora's sides. "Fuck!" Adora yelled as they began to soar upwards into the sky now. She could feel them being ratcheted into the invisible ship. 

Below them two small bandit ships streaked by, clearly having lost visual. 

Adora's head snapped upwards to where their tether was disappearing. She nearly scrambled out of Hordak's tight grasp when the upper body of Huntara popped out of nowhere and began pulling them up into the ship. "What the fuck!" Adora gasped, scrambling backwards when she hit the floor of Darla. 

"Relax...you…Jackass," Huntara panted out as Double Trouble slowly morphed back in front of her. "I couldn't...very well haul… your heavy assess up as myself and the...winch is broke," they collapsed backwards and put their hands over their face. "Everything is broken on this ship."

Next to them Hordak sat up and groaned, rubbing his side.

Adora took several gasping breaths as she pulled herself to her feet. Her head snapped up when she heard Catra's shaky voice come over the com. "Adora I'm hurt."

"I'm here. I'm coming," she shouted already halfway across the hanger. 

"You're welcome!" Double Trouble yelled out from behind her. 

Adora pounded through the ship."Entrapta are you okay?" She hollered.

"I am okay," she replied shakily. 

"How's the ship?" 

"Our main energy grid was severely damaged in the last big hit we took right after we lost shields. I managed to divert our systems to the backup grid."

"Okay," Adora replied as she rounded the corner into the bridge. Her eyes went wide and she lurched forwards. Catra was leaning over the control panels, one claw was still deeply embedded into the metal, and the other one had the throttle punched forwards. Her knees were bent below her barely holding up her weight and she was panting and growling in pain. There were smears of dark blood at the corners of her lips. 

"Catra," Adora shouted, running across the bridge. Her healing aura was extending far out of her body and Catra let out a sigh of relief before Adora had even reached her. Adora wrapped an arm around Catra and peeled her hand off of the throttle. Catra jerked forwards in her arms, her other claw ripping out of the control panel and joining the one wrapped around Adora's waist. Adora's magic hummed around them. 

"Entrapta do you have control in the engine room?" Adora called out, keeping one hand on the throttle while the other almost frantically rubbed up and down Catra's back. 

"Yes I do," Entrapta replied. 

"Take over and just keep going straight," Adora said, her voice stern. 

She picked up Catra, who did not protest at all for once, and walked her over to the captain's chair, setting her down, but keeping her arms wrapped around her as her healing magic did its work. 

Adora's heart was still racing in her chest and she felt oddly more adrenaline filled then she had jumping over ships or hurtling through the air. Her mind was racing as the last thirty minutes, less than thirty minutes even, played through her head. Her skin felt clammy and she was barely able to keep herself from shaking with rage. She felt like she'd hit some kind of massive impenetrable wall and her jaw was clenched so tight that her teeth grinding together was audible in the still of the bridge. 

Catra relaxed back into the chair, her breathing no longer raspy and strained. "Adora?" She asked, her eyes going wide when she saw Adora's red face and watery blue eyes. 

Adora turned away from her and strode to the control panel, her fists clenched at her sides. "Darla pull up every star chart we have. Including the ones I've made on my data pad," she commanded. Immediately the space of the bridge was lit up as numerous stars were holographically rendered all around them. Adora stepped into the center of them. "Highlight Etheria, our position, the planets we've landed on, and the ones left on the list."

The highlighted chart looked how she thought it would. The side of Etheria they'd exited Darla on only had a few planets highlighted. The stars thinned out greatly in this part of the chart, especially towards the end of it. They'd found little in those first few weeks and had drifted around the planet, chasing rumors of more and more magic that direction. 

So the opposite side of Etheria, the side they were currently on, was lit up with several planets, most of them had been disasters. The stars were more dense here and the edge of the map on that side of the bridge was bright. The further they'd gone that way, the more dangerous it had become. It was also the direction that Hoard Prime had come from.

Adora looked at their position. Thankfully, over the last month they'd been backing away from the congested dangerous area and had gone nearly 300° around the planet. She glanced at the less populated, safer side of Etheria before looking for their position and starting to scan around it. Her eyes felt raw and she blinked rapidly trying to focus. Her mind was racing too rapidly for Adora to register her adrenaline was crashing hard. 

Suddenly Catra was at her side. "What are you doing?" She asked, her hand slipping loosely around Adora's and then tightening after a second. Adora's hand clamped down on Catra's hand like it was a life preserver. 

Adora's voice cracked when she spoke. "Trying to find a place to hide us," she said, her eyes now frantically scanning the map. Her head was throbbing. She couldn't focus. 

"Okay," Catra said simply, stepping forwards but keeping Adora's hand in her own. She looked around and pulled Adora with her. "Here," she said, pointing to a dense asteroid belt they'd avoided going near so far. "Scanners won't be able to detect us if we go far enough in," she explained, turning to Adora and putting a gentle hand on her cheek. 

Adoran was so beyond frazzled. She was absolutely shaking and there were tears running down her red cheeks. For some reason every bad decision she'd ever made was on reloop in her mind too. Catra's suggestion cut through it. "Okay," Adora said eagerly, her head jerking up and down. 

Catra's hand left her cheek and grabbed Adora's other hand. She squeezed it. "And then what?" She asked. She sounded so calm right then that it cleared enough of the haze in Adora's head that she could respond honestly. 

"I don't know," she stammered. Her eyes were shut tightly, they were suddenly so sensitive to light. "What do you think we should do?" She asked, cracking her eyes open just enough to see Catra look a little taken aback for a moment. Then the magicats brow furrowed. 

"What do you want to do Adora?" Catra asked, pulling Adora towards her. She wrapped an arm around her midsection. Adora clung to her. 

"I wanna go away. I don't want to do this anymore," Adora said, her voice coming out small and scared now. She buried her face in Catra's neck and started crying. She was so exhausted. It was like everything, and she meant everything from the last three years was catching up with her all at once. A lifetime of danger and violence finally coming for its reckoning. 

"Okay we won't...I'll figure something out," Catra said, both arms wrapping around Adora and holding her weight up as Adora started choking on her sobs. "Entrapta, turn the ship to heading 240.766, towards the asteroid field. We're going to hide in there. Adora and I will take over at second shift."

"Affirmative," Entrapta replied over the com. She sounded relieved. Catra could hear Hordak grumbling in the background.

"But the ship. Need to protect it," Adora croaked out as Catra started to pull her towards the door.

"Adora I think you're having a panic attack or something," Catra murmured as she pulled Adora out into the hall. "Meelog said she was fine for another ten hours and our shift ended five minutes ago. We're going to go lay down and you're going to sleep." Her voice left no room for argument so Adora didn't. 

Her head was starting to spin and her thoughts couldn't focus on anything for longer than a few seconds. She tried to stay grounded by studying Catra's face. She still had dried blood at the corners of her lips. 

Catra didn't bother to turn on the lights in the cramped brig they'd claimed as their bedroom. She just pulled Adora wordlessly over to their cot and very gently took off the blonde's clothing. After she stripped down herself, she pulled the shaking blonde into the bed with her. 

Adora numbly let Catra pull her tightly against her body and a relieved, pitiful whimper left her throat when her head made contact with the soft fur of Catra's chest. Scrambling slightly, Adora's arms wrapped tightly around Catra's midsection and she threw a leg over her. Catra began purring deeply underneath her, with more force than Adora had ever felt. 

"Go to sleep Adora," Catra said as she started playing with Adora's hair and lightly scratching her scalp. Adora still felt like she was spinning off her axis, but she was also exhausted. She buried her face in Catra's chest and willed herself to sleep. Right before she dropped off into a dreamless coma like slumber, Catra pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "I'm going to take care of you now," she whispered.


End file.
